Free
by Penelopi
Summary: The Nightmarens hunt dreamers' Ideya by sniffing them out and stealing them. But, one day, their hunt leads them inside Wizeman's castle. What they find triggers a rapid series of events that kills NiGHTS's already-dwindling loyalty to Nightmare. Pre-NiD. NiGHTS 1st person POV. One-shot.


**Author's Notes  
**

This is based on a dream I had at least 5 years ago. I want to say I first drafted it soon after, but now I have revised it and made some significant changes. I tried to let the events of the dream remain unchanged, but the details have blurred, and the corresponding dream diary entry is buried somewhere in mounds and mounds of hard-copy dream diary notebooks. I tried finding a beta for this little one-shot, because I wanted a second opinion getting the details fleshed out while still keeping the narration within NiGHTS's voice, but two potentials failed to respond, so I give up. XD If you readers have any critiques, please give them in the reviews or by PM, because I'd like to know how I did.

This fic best fits in the context of pre-NiD. I know that back when I frequented the NightsIntoDreams . com forums, someone there posted rips of unused data from the JoD CD, including dialogue text that hinted that JoD was originally intended to be a prequel to NiD. I'll have to find it in my files again and see what exactly gave me that impression, but I remember it was very cool. And, it makes sense, when you think about it: in JoD, NiGHTS is wandering around, is in possession of the Persona mask, and is resisting attempts by Reala to persuade him/her to come back to Wizeman. In NiD, NiGHTS is in a cage, and there is no attempted negotiation on Wizeman's part. It would all fit nicely if NiGHTS was starting to defect from Wizeman at the start of JoD, the events during JoD solidified his/her resolve, and Wizeman imprisoned him/her before NiD in response. But, this dream of mine treats NiD as the first game, because it provides reasons for NiGHTS being permanently imprisoned.

Anyways, read on and enjoy!

 **Disclaimer**

I don't own NiGHTS into Dreams or NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams or any of the NiGHTS franchise characters.

* * *

 _Free_

One night, we found a dreamer in our castle, when all of us second- and first-level Nightmarens followed the scent of Ideya to the dark, wide entrance hall. The dreamer was there, looking around at the showy staircase and dark drapes, as unaware as most dreamers, until she saw me. "NiGHTS," she said, smiling.

The other Nightmarens—noodle-armed Clawz, spiky Gillwing, bloated Puffy, that caped psychopath Jackle, Reala the lord of heavy makeup, and the rest of those uglies—looked at me in question. I was at a loss as to how the dreamer even knew my name, so I shrugged and said, "I don't know her." I was a first-level Nightmaren, one of the most feared creatures in existence: fanged, clawed, and almost dark enough in color to blend in with the shadows themselves—and wearing a cape, too, I recall. A dreaming child shouldn't have wanted to come anywhere close to me.

We watched the girl stare at this world in awe, like a child seeing a fairy-tale come true—not at all how a human should react in the pit of fear. None of us could understand her, so we did what we always did when we didn't understand something: we brought it to Wizeman.

The dreamer finally tensed when we brought her into the dark and bleak throne room. As we carried her over that boring checkered floor, she stared at Wizeman in fear: not the kind of fear that his menacing presence always gives to dreamers, but dread, as if she knew what to expect. I shuddered down my non-existent spine at the strangeness of it all. We told Wizeman the situation, and the dreamer started to say, "NiGHTS, you don't remember me?" but, I ignored her—never even met her eye. No Nightmaren could show weakness before the Lord of Nightmares.

Wizeman ordered her to be taken to the prison, and still she _stared_ at me. I moved, but her eyes searched for me, again. When the others took her away, I started to follow to help imprison her, but Wizeman called and ordered me to stay. He asked me questions: Where had I been? Where did we find her? Was I sure I didn't know her? Why did she seem to be so fond of me? I answered everything I could, but I couldn't explain why she was... so _strange_.

We beings of Nightmare kept her in a round cage for a while. The prison, unlike the rest of the main castle, had cold, bright décor, like the desolate hospitals I've seen in dreamers' nightmares. The cage was big enough to hold the dreamer, but when she lied down, she had to twist to get comfortable in the curved bottom. She was fully lucid now that she was in the cage, and she finally stayed quiet. I still wondered, though, who she was, and why she did not fear me. At first, I passed by her on the way to other hunts, and she watched me as if she were waiting. But, when no one else was around, my curiosity got the better of me.

I went to her bars and asked, "Who are you? How do you know me?"

Her hazel eyes lit as soon as she saw me. She laughed, saying, "I'm your friend in the future. We dualized."

This future interested me. "Tell me," I said. So the dreamer told me about how we fought nightmares together, how I was free and happy, and how life was fun outside of Nightmare.

I enjoyed her stories and her warm company in that cold land of nightmares. And, that future sounded like fun, as unlikely as it was. To reward her for such a good tale, I unlocked the cage. I figured, what would Wizeman care about one little dreamer? I was one of his favorites, after all. He wouldn't punish me, I told myself.

The dreamer seemed surprised, but she came out the open door and thanked me. I told her, "It's nothing. You can escape through the tunnel. Maybe we'll meet again."

Then, I noticed her eyes were scared. "NiGHTS, you have to go, now!" she said.

"What?" I asked.

"They're searching for you! If they find you, they'll kill you!" she told me.

I knew of the lucid dreamers' power to know what was happening anywhere in their dream, but I wondered if she was mistaken? Why would the other Nightmarens and Wizeman want to kill me?

She pulled on my hand until I followed her, and we ran through all the cold white halls. We could hear by the cackles the other Nightmarens closing fast. For the first time, the sound of the hunt made me uneasy.

I wondered why the dreamer was pulling me along. I figured they were after her, not me. So, when they found us and attacked me, instead, I was taken off-guard. All I saw was the flash of a claw before I fell. My chest hurt, and I was half-conscious, too weak to move. The dreamer lifted me easily because I was so light, though my cape gave her some trouble: she let it drape over her arm. She flew now, like a Nightmaren, though not quite as elegantly, and gave them a good chase through the maze.

But, eventually, she stopped. From the sneers of the other Nightmarens, I knew she had been caught. Reala's voice said, "There's no escape. If you want to leave alive, give us NiGHTS."

I opened my eyes. Reala's grin was scornful and cruel—his hunting face.

The dreamer hesitated, glaring at the other Nightmarens. She didn't want to give me up, I could tell, but there was nowhere left to run. Not even her lucid powers could save us, here. She looked down at me, but I stared at her without a word. What _could_ I say? Of everyone in the room, she was the one I trusted most at that moment, even over my own clouded consciousness.

But then, she started fading. She was waking up. She tried to hold on, but in the end the waking world pulled her away. She was free, but I was imprisoned. Someone caught my limp body. "Reala," I tried to call. But, he didn't answer me.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Still not sure if long words like "consciousness" would be used much by NiGHTS. I changed "intrigued" to "interested" in "This future interested me" because I was afraid he/she wouldn't use a sophisticated word like that. I need to play JoD again XD Whenever I hear a British voice, i instinctively expect sophistication to come from it (sorry to stereotype), but NiGHTS and Owl have significantly different dialogue, and I need to remember the distinction between them.

If you're wondering, yes, the dreamer in the story was me. I have a very creative and story-minded subconscious. :) I didn't want to put right on the front page "HERE IS A SELF INSERT!" because it's a very light insert that doesn't focus so much on the dreamer (who could really be anyone) as on NiGHTS's reactions. Though maybe that makes it a Mary Sue... :/ I'll leave that to you all to decide. :)

Please review! Let me know if you enjoyed it!

-Penelopi


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